Ice cube dispensing machine

ABSTRACT

An ice cube dispensing machine is provided which is adapted to store ice cubes without having the cubes sticking to each other and to dispense one or more ice cubes at a time. The ice cube dispensing machine includes a storage member having a chamber therein for storing ice cubes and an inlet and outlet, a rotatable shaft, horizontally disposed within said chamber driven by motor means, and having a plurality of angular bars extending therefrom, for keeping ice cubes from sticking to one another and moving the ice cubes to the outlet in said storage member. Cover means are provided for the outlet in said storage member, which are adapted to move between open and closed positions, for dispensing ice cubes or for retaining ice cubes in said chamber, respectively. The ice cube dispensing machine is portable or may be secured to a shelf or table top or other support and employed in the home or in commercial establishments such as restaurants or bars, for dispensing ice cubes.

United States Patent Vitencz May 7,1974

[ 4] ICE CUBE DISPENSING MACHINE 221 Filed: Oct. 30, 1972 21App1.No.:30l,979

[ 5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,602,406 8/1971 Jacobuset a1. 222/413 3,348,656 10/1967 Hall et a1. 62/344 2,579,527 12/1951Weyerhaeuser 198/56 2,849,035 8/1958 Morey, 141/360 PrimaryExaminerStanley 1'1. Tolberg. Assistant Examiner-Larry Martin ABSTRACTAn ice cube dispensing machine is provided which is adapted to store icecubes without having the cubes sticking to each other and to dispenseone or more ice cubes at a time. The ice cube dispensing machineincludes a storage member having a chamber therein for storing ice cubesand an inlet and outlet, a rotatable shaft, horizontally disposed.within said chamber driven by motor means, and having a plurality ofangular bars extending therefrom, for keeping ice cubes from sticking toone another and moving the ice cubes to the outlet in said storagemember. Cover means are provided for the outlet in said storage me'mber,which are adapted to move between open and closed positions, fordispensing ice cubes or for retaining ice cubes in said chamber,respectively.

The ice cube dispensing machine is portable or may be secured to a shelfor table top or other support and employed in the home or in commercialestablishments suchas restaurants or bars, for dispensing ice cubes. i

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDIAY 7 1974 fllll 1 ICE CUBEDISPENSING MACHINE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relatesto an ice cubedispenser which is adapted to store ice cubes whilekeeping the cubes separated from each other and to dispense one or moreice cubes at a time, as desired.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Every home, restaurant, or bar makes use ofice cubes stored in dispensers. For example, in the home, ice cubes arenormally made in the freezer of a refrigerator and stored in the freezeruntil ready for use. The ice cubes may be removed from the freezer andused directly or may be stored in an insulated storage unit prior touse. In restaurants of bars, ice cubes are normally prepared in afreezer and removed therefrm and stored in large containers prior touse.

It has been found that when ice cubes are stored in conventional storageunits, the ice cubes tend to stick to one another and cannot be removedfrom the storage unit one at a time. It is usually necessary to removetwo or three or more ice cubes, all stuck toether, and

separate thecubes from each other.

Commercial ice cube making and vending establishments have recognizedthis problem for some time and have apparently solved it. To do so, theyhave developed complex commercial ice cube making and vending machineswhich normally comprise means formaking ice cubes and means for storingthe cubes which include means for keeping the cubes separated from eachother. The means for keeping the cubes separated usually comprises arotatable shaft which includes a plurality of spikes positioned thereon;as the shaft rotates, the spikes contact the ice cubes and keep themseparated from each other, but do not aid in moving the ice cubes fromthe storage means to an outlet or dispensing means. The shaft andassociated spikes are usually part of a complex and expensive piece ofequipment which is suitable for home use and even in small businessestablishments. For example, US. Pat. No. 3,18,958 to Swart discloses anice cube vending machine which includes an anti-bridging device whichcomprises a bin element having converging walls and a curved bottomwall; the bin includes an elongated feed screw element driven by anelectric motor and a shaft having a plurality of spikes extendingtherefrom positioned above the feed screw element. The shaft functionsto keep the ice cubes separated as they fall onto the screw elementwhich moves the cubes to dispensing means. The shaft carrying theplurality of spikes is vertically disposed within the vending machine.

US. Pat. No. 3,217,509 to Weil, et. al discloses a horizontally-disposedrotatable shaft in combination with complex ice making and vendingapparatus. This apparatus is not for dispensing ice Cubes but isdesigned to dispense crushed ice.

US. Pat. No. 3,146,915 to Gregor discloses a vibratory transfer chutewhich includes a horizontallydisposed .rotatable shaft having aplurality of teeth extending therefrom. The chute is essentially fortransferring non-free flowing materials such as macaroni, vegetables andthe like from scaling or measuring devices, without bridging or cloggingthe chute.

A number of other patents disclose a rotatable shaft having teeth,angular bars, or spikes disposed thereon 2 which could be employed forkeeping ice cubes separated from each other. Each of these patents hasone thing in common, namely that the rotatable shafi is dis posedvertically within a housing and thus the shaft does not aid in 'movingice cubes to dispensing means. Examples of some of these patents are US.Pat. No. 2,353,132 to Frank; US. Pat. No. 3,075,363 to Conto; US. Pat.No. 3,101,872 to Dickinson; U.S.'Pat. No. 3,144,965 to Burton et 2.1.;U5. Pat. No. 3,196,628 to Reynolds and Pat. No. 3,608,786 to Shelly etal.-

None of the above-mentioned dispensers is adapted to be employed in thehome or in small eating or drinking establishments for dispensing icecubes one or more at a time, as desired.

BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention, there is provided an ice cube dispenser which stores icecubes while keeping the cubes separated from each other and dispensescubes one or more at a time, as desired by the user. The dispenser ofthe invention is of simple and inexpensive construction, easy tomaintain, but surprisingly efficient and is adapted for use in the homeor at restaurants or bars or other establishments where ice cubes arestored and dispensed.

The ice cube dispenser in accordance with the invention comprises astorage member having a chamber therein for storing ice cubes, saidstorage member including an inlet and outlet for ice cubes, a rotatablemoving member horizontally disposed within said chamber for keeping theice cubes from sticking to one another and moving the ice cubes to theoutlet in the storage member and 'means for rotating said moving member.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the rotatable moving membercomprises a shaft horizontally disposed in said chamber, said shafthaving a plurality of angular bars extending therefrom; the shaft isrotated by-driving means such as a motor which can run on batteries, orbe plugged into an electric outlet.

The storage member and chamber therein are provided with openings forreceiving ice cubes to be stored in the chamber and for dispensing icecubes; In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the openingscomprising the outlet for dispensing the ice cubes is separated from theinlet opening and includes cover means which are mounted over theopening, said cover means being movable between open and closedpositions, during which ice cubes may be dispensed through the openingor retained in the chamber by the cover, respectively.

The ice cube storage member is preferably positioned within a housing,which includes a removable or hinged top cover positioned over the inletopening in the storage member. The housing will also include openingsaligned with the outlet openings in the storage member.

The ice cube dispenser of the invention thus may take the form of acompact machine, which may be portable or may be permanently secured toa support such as a ledge, shelf or table top; where the dispenser ispermanently secured to a support, the openings in the housingcorresponding to the outlet and covers therefor in the storage memberwill preferably extend over said ledge, shelf or table. In thisembodiment, when an ice cube is desired, a glass or other container bereleased or moved into the closed position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of an ice cubedispensing machine in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the various components of the ice cubedispensing machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the ice cube dispensing machine shown in FIG.1 which shows by phantom lines the various components making up thedispenser.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the ice cube dispenser shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to the various Figures, wherein like numerals represent likeparts in the several views, the numeral generally refers to the ice cubedispenser of the invention, which includes a housing 12 having aremovable top 14 connected to the top of the housingas shown. Theremovable top 14 may be completely removed from the housing 12, or theback edge of the top cover may be hinged to the housing 12 by hinge 16as shown in FIG. 4 as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

The housing 12 also includes recessed openings 18 and 20 as shown.

Within the housing 12, there is positioned storage member 22 which asshown is preferably in the form of a cylinder including end sections 23,24, an open top 25 through which ice cubes may be filled, openings 26and 28 through which ice cubes may be dispensed and a storagecompartment or chamber 30. It will be understood that the dispenser ofthe invention may have any number of outlet openings. As shown, theoutlet openings 26, 28 as well as any other outlet openings which may bepresent) include cover means 32 which may take the form of metal strip34 having a tab 36, the strip being secured to the storage member 22 bybrackets 38, 39 as shown. In the embodiment shown, the metal strip isadapted to slide in the brackets 38, 39 to open and close off theopenings 26, 28. The cover means can be speing loaded to facilitatemovement between the open and closed positions. The tab 36 of the metalstrip 34, or the metal strip 34 itself, can be con-' nected to thestorage member 22 by spring means 40 which are secured for example, byscrews, to the cover means and storage member 22. The use of the springs40 is not essential and is only optional.

The end section 24 of the cylindrical storage member 22 has a centralopening 52 through which shaft 54 having angular bars 56 extendingtherefrom is positioned. The shaft 54 is in operative communication withmotor 60 and reduction gear housing 60a, as shown. As seen in FIGS. 3and 4, the angular bars 56 form two sets, the first set of alternatingbars lying in a first plane with the bars being parallel to each otherand the second set of alternating bars lying in a second planeperpendicular to the first plane with the bars being parallel with eachother. Each set of angular bars is skewed from the shaft 54, to formacute angles between adjacent bars. The shaft 54 and angular bars 56 aredesigned to fit in the chamber of storage mem-,

'ber 22 with the end 62 of shaft 54 fitting in a mount or opening64 inend section 23 of the storage unit 22. The

end section 24 of storage unit 22 is designed to fit on the open end ofthe storage unit 22 and be secured thereto by clamps 70 or otherconventional means which lock the end section 24 in place.

The storage unit 22 is mounted on mounting means 80 which is supportedon bottom plate 82 of the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 1, bottom plate82 may be secured to ledge or shelf 90 by screws or other conventionalmeans.

The ice dispensing erates as follows:

The ice dispensing machine is filled with ice cubes'by lifting the topcover 14 from the top of the'housing 12 along hinge 16; ice cubes arefed-through opening 25 in storage member22 into chamber 30. At thistime, the covers 32 are in a closed position over the outlet openings28- and 26. In addition, the shaft 54 having angular bars 56 extendingtherefrom is made to rotate by energizing motor means 60. The ice cubesare loaded into the storage member 22 until the chamber 30 is looselypacked with ice cubes. It will be apparent that the ice cubes should beloosely packed into the chamber 30 so that the shaft 54 and angular bars56 may romachine shown in the figures optate without breaking up the icecubes or burning out the motor means 60.

As the shaft 54 and the angular bars 56 rotate in chamber 30, the barscontact the ice cubes stored therein and continually cause the ice cubesto move and rotate within the chamber while keeping the ice cubesseparated from each other. Furthermore, the bars 56 help move ice cubesalong the shaft54. Thus, when ice cubes are removed through openings 26,28 of chamber 30, the angular bars 56 will automatically move otherrotating ice cubes horizontally along the shaft 54 until the cubes reachthe openings 26, 28. v

Whenan ice cube is desired, a container, such as a glass is positionedunder one of the openings 18 or 20 in the housing. Cover 32 extendingout from the opening 18 0r 20 and positioned over the opening 26 or 28,respectively, is moved into an open position by pushing the glassagainst the tab 36 and causing the metal strip 34 to slide in thebrackets 38, 39 down and away from the operator. As the'cover 32 ismoved away from the opening 26 or 28, the springs 40 assumea biasedstate. After the cover 32 isfully opened, tab tube 36 is held to keepthe springs 40 biased and to prevent the cover from springing closed.Ice cubes will fall through the openings into the container. When thedesired number of cubes is dispensed, the tab 36 is released and theaction of the spring 40 moving to an unbiased position will cause thecover means 32 to return to a closed position. it

It will be apparent that the ice cube dispensing machine shown in theFigures is for illustrative purposes only. The housing 12 may be of manydifferent shapes such as rectangular, square, circular, oval, triangularand the like. The housing as well as the storage member 32 and shaft 54may be made from any durable solid material such as plastic, wood ormetal. The storage member 22 may be in cylindrical form as shown or anyother desired shape as long as the shaft 54 having the angular bars 56extending therefrom may be horizontally disposed in the storage member22 and the angu- I keeping the ice cubes separated from each other andmoving the ice cubes along a horizontal path to the openings 26, 28 anddispensing means of the storage member 22.

It will also be appreciated that the angular bars 56 actually cause icecubes to pass just above the opening 26 or 28, and the bars 56 actuallypush the ice out of the openings into the glass. This is in contrast totheuse of a chute wherein non-moving ice cubes stick together and causethe chute to become clogged.

The storage member 22 is preferably of cylindrical shape so that anypockets of non-moving ice which could build up in corners if the storagemember were of square or rectangular configuration, is avoided.

The ice cube dispensing machine of the present invention can take allstandard type ice cubes.

What is claimed is:

1. An ice cube dispenser comprising, in combination an ice cube storagemember having a chamber therein for storing ice cubes and including sidewalls, an inlet and an outlet for ice cubes;

a rotatable moving member disposed within said chamber and comprising ashaft horizontally disposed in said chamber, said shaft having two setsof alternating angular bars extending therefrom, said angular bars beingseparated from each other along said shaft, the first set of alternatingbars lyingin a first plane and said bars being parallel to one anotherand the second set of alternating bars lying in a second planeperpendicular to said first plane and said bars of said second set beingparallel to one'another, adjacent bars being skewed from said shaft andforming acute angles between adjacent bars, the space between saidangular bars extending from said shaft and the side walls of saidchamber being sufficiently large to receive ice cubes directly from saidinlet between said angular bars without allowing buildup of ice cubesbefore such ice cubes contact said shaft or said bars, while allowingrotation of said shaft and its angular bars to keep ice open position.

cubes from sticking to one another and moving said ice cubeshorizontally along said shaft fromsaid inlet to said outlet of saidchamber;

and means for rotating said rotatable moving member.

2. The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein the means forrotating said moving means comprises motor means operatively connectedto said shaft.

3. The ice'cube dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein the chamber isof substantially cylindrical shape.

4. The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim 3 wherein said inlet forice cubes in said chamber comprises an opening in said chamber spacedfrom said outlet in said chamber.

5. The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein said outlet insaid chamber comprises one or more openings in the side walls of saidchamber, and a removable cover mounted on said ice cube storage memberover each of said openings.

6. The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim 5 wherein said cover forsaid outlets are slidably mounted in brackets attached to said storagemember and are spring biased so as to easily slide within said brackets8. The ice cubedispenser as defined in claim 7 I wherein said housing isadapted to fit over and be secured to a support member so that acontainer can be positioned under the said openings in said housing andsaid chamber and can directly receive ice cubes falling through saidopenings upon moving said cover to the

1. An ice cube dispenser comprising, in combination an ice cube storagemember having a chamber therein for storing ice cubes and including sidewalls, an inlet and an outlet for ice cubes; a rotatable moving memberdisposed within said chamber and comprising a shaft horizontallyDisposed in said chamber, said shaft having two sets of alternatingangular bars extending therefrom, said angular bars being separated fromeach other along said shaft, the first set of alternating bars lying ina first plane and said bars being parallel to one another and the secondset of alternating bars lying in a second plane perpendicular to saidfirst plane and said bars of said second set being parallel to oneanother, adjacent bars being skewed from said shaft and forming acuteangles between adjacent bars, the space between said angular barsextending from said shaft and the side walls of said chamber beingsufficiently large to receive ice cubes directly from said inlet betweensaid angular bars without allowing buildup of ice cubes before such icecubes contact said shaft or said bars, while allowing rotation of saidshaft and its angular bars to keep ice cubes from sticking to oneanother and moving said ice cubes horizontally along said shaft fromsaid inlet to said outlet of said chamber; and means for rotating saidrotatable moving member.
 2. The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim 1wherein the means for rotating said moving means comprises motor meansoperatively connected to said shaft.
 3. The ice cube dispenser asdefined in claim 1 wherein the chamber is of substantially cylindricalshape.
 4. The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim 3 wherein saidinlet for ice cubes in said chamber comprises an opening in said chamberspaced from said outlet in said chamber.
 5. The ice cube dispenser asdefined in claim 1 wherein said outlet in said chamber comprises one ormore openings in the side walls of said chamber, and a removable covermounted on said ice cube storage member over each of said openings. 6.The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim 5 wherein said cover for saidoutlets are slidably mounted in brackets attached to said storage memberand are spring biased so as to easily slide within said brackets betweenopen and closed positions.
 7. The ice cube dispenser as defined in claim5 including, in addition, a housing for said ice cube storage membersaid housing including a removable top cover and openings correspondingwith said outlets in said storage member and covers.
 8. The ice cubedispenser as defined in claim 7 wherein said housing is adapted to fitover and be secured to a support member so that a container can bepositioned under the said openings in said housing and said chamber andcan directly receive ice cubes falling through said openings upon movingsaid cover to the open position.